Diablo III

[Yoska]

The last three classes are going to be a ranged class, a sorcerer/sorceress class, and a melee class with an emphasis on defensive/support skills. They might change the names, but not the playstyles.

Totally. I'm guessing Paladin is still in and mostly intact (like Barbarian). Amazon will be there too but with just some tweaks and another name. "Rogue" or something. And Sorceress... honestly, she is little bland. I hope Blizzard will come up with a new redesigned mage class. Something which has a little bit more oomph.


I rebought Diablo II, and The Lord of the Destruction, and I'm currently playing a solo game with a Barb and as a Druid in a play-through with my bro. The game is getting old but it's still pretty freakin' sweet and even if it feels little simple it's a whole lot of fun. Actually, I had forgotten that the game is pretty well written and well voice acted too.

If Diablo II is still this great and Diablo III will be that and even much more then... yeah.

[Lazzie]

I can't believe I missed this news when it was first posted about three weeks ago:

http://kotaku.com/5039711/only-the-b...-in-diablo-iii

Bottom line: the last three classes are going to be all-new. The dev team felt that the Barbarian was the least-developed of the D2 classes, so they want another shot at him. But the other six? Maybe in the expansion.

[Insider2000]

Diablo without an awesome magic caster is like Final Fantasy without Black Magic. You just don't do it!

I loved Sorceress.

[Gekko135]

i am interested to see what sort of brand new classes they can cook up. I wont start bitching yet as I'm sure half the internet is already doing due to this news.

They've already shown that the witch doctor is an awesome class and seems to replace the necro.

there will be a magic caster insider. it just won't be called a sorceress.

[Insider2000]

I'm sure there will be a caster. I just hope it will be as badass as the past Sorceress. Male or female, I don't care. Us, wizards need to look our best.

[Malintex_Terek]

The dev team felt that the Barbarian was the least-developed of the D2 classes

As if the D2 expansion taking place in the BARBARIAN HOMELAND wasn't enough development for Blizzard.

[Yoska]

I think they meant it gameplay wise. Barbarian wasn't as awesome to play with as he could had potentially been. And I tend agree, Diablo III's Barbarian indeed seems much more badass.

[Lazzie]

I think they meant it gameplay wise. Barbarian wasn't as awesome to play with as he could had potentially been. And I tend agree, Diablo III's Barbarian indeed seems much more badass.

Yoska speaks the truth. In the article, the designer mentions that the team felt that the Barbarian was the most one-dimensional of the seven D II characters and they "wanted another shot" at the character class.

And when you think about it, he has a point - the Barbarian had an entire tree of passives, an entire tree of direct damage (about 8/10 of it melee damage), and a tree of some pretty meh support skills. The other six classes have far more diverse roles and more attacks grouped into each tree. No matter how you spec a Barbarian, it's going to be a close-ranged tank.

[Malintex_Terek]

No matter how you spec a Barbarian, it's going to be a close-ranged tank.

One could basically argue the Amazon was just as much a "long-ranged tank", yet she's not getting resurrected for D3. Both Barb and Zon evolved out of D1's Warrior class and are so obligated to be boring old tanks, if they're given magic comparable to the other classes its VERY easy for them to be overpowered and basically forces people who prefer straight up tanking to use magic like sorcerous classes.

IMV there should be a distinction between "sword AND sorcery" like the Final Fantasy series and where Diablo is headed and "sword OR sorcery" like more traditional RPGs.

[Yoska]

Amazon could always specializes on spears.

Anyway, what Blizzard appears to be doing with Barbarian is giving him a larger and more interesting pool of attacks to pick from. At least this is the vibe I got from gameplay videos. Basicly they are spicying up things for him. He will still be a tank but a tank who has a wider range of different approaches for how to pull a bloody massacre. I just like how he seems much more brutal than before. That alone makes him much more fun to play.

[youtube]Pv9BEedDkpQ[/youtube]

[Lazzie]

One could basically argue the Amazon was just as much a "long-ranged tank", yet she's not getting resurrected for D3. Both Barb and Zon evolved out of D1's Warrior class and are so obligated to be boring old tanks, if they're given magic comparable to the other classes its VERY easy for them to be overpowered and basically forces people who prefer straight up tanking to use magic like sorcerous classes.

Well, I have to disagree with you there. The Amazon had two full trees of specialized DPS, while the Barbarian had his one. The Amazon could easily choose to specialize in dealing physical, magical, poison, or any of the three elemental damages through skill trees, but the Barbarian was overwhelmingly physical, with only a single magic attack and otherwise relying on equipment for elemental damage.

The Amazon could specialize in melee or ranged combat through skill trees and equipment, but if the Barbarian used ranged weapons his options were far more limited. The Amazon's passives tree also had a few specialized spells, notably a support summon, while the Barbarian only had his passives. If you point at the Barbarian's war cries tree and call it variety, then you're also wrong, because it just adds to tanking stats and deals close-ranged offensive effects - it just further solidifies his role. Bottom line - the Amazon has more variety than the Barbarian.

Oh, and both of them evolving from the Warrior? Do you remember the Rogue class? You know, the bow specialists? How didn't the Amazon evolve from that?

And again, I'm with Yoska. They're going to try and make the Barbarian more interesting by giving him more attacks, more variety, and more possible roles and styles of play. I'm down with this, and I can't wait to see the full lineup of classes when it's revealed.

[Lazzie]

I probably don't need to mention this, but I'm 100% certain that Blizzard will reveal at least one of the 3 yet-to-be-revealed classes at Blizzcon next month. I'm a little mad that they aren't doing an online free online feed this year, but I'll be watching that news like a hawk.

[Lazzie]

Blizzcon starts up Friday, two days from now. If they don't reveal at least one new character at the show, there's going to be a major fan outcry.

Oh, and Gamespy's guesses for the next three classes are Bounty Hunter, Clan Mage, and Seraphim. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/diablo-iii/917175p1.html . Sounds like Sacred: Underworld if you ask me.

[Insider2000]

If the 'Seraphim' is some kind of healer, I will take that over a Sorceress. I love being the healer in any game.

[Lazzie]

If the 'Seraphim' is some kind of healer, I will take that over a Sorceress. I love being the healer in any game.

Those aren't real classes. Just guesses.

[Insider2000]

I know. But if Seraphim is real, and if Seraphim is a healer. I'll enjoy it.

[Ichnob]

Blizzcon started today, and Diablo III's latest class reveal: Wizard.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/10/wa...blo-3s-wizard/

[Insider2000]

'Wizard'.....they could have given a better name....but I'm content.

Think there will be an archer type? It would be cool to see a game that had a male archer type, and not a female archer type with big boobs. (I know male and female genders are selectable for each class).

[Lazzie]

http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/d3-class-panel-notes/ - class discussion on the Wizard and general skill tree balance in D III.

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1020 - the full Wizard skill/talent tree revealed thus far.

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/media/movies/wizard.xml - A really neat trailer showcasing the female version of the Wizard.

[Yoska]

They now seems to be talking about a possiblity of a console port. I would like that. If done correctly. Sure my PC can handle the game but I would still probably go with a 360 port.

PSX port of first Diabo was pretty okey. Two player co-op was really what made the port worth it. Actually yeah if the console port would have a co-op mode, you know two players playing on the same machine, I would definitely go with that version.